Guinea Pig Excessively Urinating

[Erica]

Hello All,

I just came here to get some advice on my coronet guinea pig, Alfonsa, Alfi for short. I don't want to leave anything that may be important out so I'll describe her living situation first. She lives in a 2x3 C&C cage with her daughter Panda. I give them both a handful of oxbow pellets a day and plenty of hay in their hay rack. They have four water bottles in their cage. I give them usually a whole green lettuce leaf in the morning and occasional treats a couple of days throughout the week (apple snacks, or timonthy hay biscuits). I may give them fruit once a month or so. They get floor time every day at night but otherwise they are in their cages.

I'm not sure when this started but I feel like somewhere along the line the amount of water she drinks has gotten excessive as well as how often she urinates. When she's in her cage she sits next to the hay and uses the bathroom in the same area all day. I've kept them on puppy absorbent pads for a while because I couldn't handle doing a full cleaning of fleece everyday and now I'm trying out cage liners. So far they seem to last at most 3 days but she's giving them a run for her money. My gut is just telling me this isn't normal. If anyone can give me any advice on what could be going on that would help me alot. Thanks for all of your help in advance and if you need more info from me don't hesitate to ask.

 

[VickiA]

Piggies really do wee an awful lot each day (and their veg are also diuretic). Not sure how old your piggies are. This could simply be normal, but what is the volume of water being consumed each day and has this increased? If it has increased I would certainly ask your vet to check them over.

 

[Erica]

She's about two and a half years now. I would guess maybe 16oz a day. I have 5 piggies in total and she definitely wees the most out of all of them. The only time I remember her drinking this much was when she was pregnant and I know for sure that's not the case now. Another disturbing thing I noticed is that when her dirty fleece dries, there's all this white stuff covering the fleece. It looks like maybe excess calcium deposits but I don't understand why she would be getting rid of so much when the others aren't doing the same thing.

 

[juls65]

hi, if everything else seems normal & healthy and the wee is a good colour and doesn't smell strong, it could just be the case that their diet is very dry so large amounts of water are needed. you could try adding some moisture rich foods each day like cucumber chunks, celery & the leaves,melon & the skin , cauliflower leaves & the stalks, tomato, carrot & tops or fresh grass if you can get some. If they aren't used to these foods, introduce them slowly in small amounts so it doesn't upset their tums & still feed lots of hay. If she still drinks lots of water or appears unwell I would get her checked out at the vet

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! Please have her seen and checked by a vet, especially if she is drinking more than 300ml a day. Excessive drinking can be a urinary tract infection, a kidney or a diabetic problem. Are you weighing your piggies weekly and have you noticed any sudden weight losses? Drinking can be individually very different and can also differ depending on the climate/weather/heating/air conditioning etc.

White stains are the body's way of excreting excessive calcium. check them to make sure that they are powdery and not gritty (stones/bladder sludge).

Your diet sounds like you are not feeding a lot of fresh veg (lettuce is not known for being nutritious) and herbs, so your piggies will naturally drink more water. Are you supplementing their diet with vitamin C (not in the water)?
Here are our diet recommendations; iplease be aware that you will need to be careful when introducing any new veg that your girls' digestive system is not used to them, so do it one new veg in small quantities at a time and don't be surprised if they won't take to everything. I would start with slices of cucumber and celery, fresh herbs like coriander/cilantro, parsley, dill, mint, fennel or basil.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...veg-and-fruit-list-with-vitamin-c-grading.42/

With members from all over the world, we are grateful if you added your country, state and (for the UK) your county, so we can always give you the appropriate advice and recommendations for your part of the world straight away. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. thanks!

 

[Erica]

Just updated my location And no I don't feed them alot of veggies. I've tried to keep them on a low calcium diet since in the beginning I was seeing white spots from all of my pigs all of the time and I was growing concerned over bladder stone issues. For a month or two I was supplementing them all with Oxbow's vitamin C supplements (the one's that look like little oval biscuits) but have since stopped. I don't weight them (big no-no, I know lol) but I haven't noticed any change in her weight.

 

[Wiebke]

A low calcium diet doesn't mean that your piggies will not adjust to it and that there won't be any calcium deposits. The process of calcium absorption in guinea pigs is very complex and sadly barely researched.

Keeping up the vitamin C is very important; bell/sweet peppers of any colour are a low calcium option. 1 slice daily per piggy is all it takes. Cilantry (coriander) is also a fresh herb that can fed daily, about 1 sprig per day to help with minerals and trace elements. By feeding watery veg like cucumber and celery chunks, you can reduce the drinking.

You may find this thread here interesting, but various members with experience with bladder issue piggies have their own diets: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk...or-piggies-an-option-to-be-considered.105930/